About 80 years ago, Ni

geria joined the league of aviation nations with the celebration of the first flight in Kano. Since its prosperous beginning, the industry has continued to drift like a rudderless ship.

This was the assessment of the Aviation Roundtable (AR), the sector’s watchdog, which described the state of the industry as comatose. Speaking through its president,  Captain Dele Ore and Secretary-General, Samuel Akerele, the AR said the industry had performed below expectation given the strides recorded by other countries which started at the same time with Nigeria.

“The industry in Nigeria is in doldrums”, they declared, pointing out that a cumulative impact of policies, bad decisions, the market competition and financing difficulty is destroying the Nigerian aviation industry.

Obviously, the biggest problem facing the Nigerian aviation industry seems to be lack of serious attention and political will. The economy also has much to do with its strength. It is against this backdrop that the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) before the just-concluded general elections said its members would not vote for any candidate that does not have the interest of the aviation industry at heart or in his agenda. Aviation Roundtables President, Captain Dele Ore, observed that airlines from advanced countries are stronger while those owned by Nigerians are denied the much-needed goodwill and very strong political base for survival.

In an indsturry which does not brook mistakes like the aviation, lack of adequate regulating will result to an attempt to cut corners with possible catastrophic consequences. The airport system the world over runs on support systems, which form the basis of its strength. In Nigeria, it is an orduous task running the airports with low capitalisation, wet and dry leasing of aircraft and unstable manpower retention rate, which are symptoms of an economically weak industry.

Stakeholders are divided over the seeming delay of allocations to managers who are saddled with the task of managing the 21 airports across the country. It is well known that the management of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria(FAAN) for some reasons has denied airport managers the needed funds to bring about seamless running of the airports. Attempts to impress on the authorities to fast-track the timely release of either monthly or quarterly allocation to the airports have been fruitless and the dwindling revenue of the airport authorities may have erected roadblock to attempts to bring about seamless operations at the nation’s gateways.

There is no doubt that the World Bank through its security and aviation projects programme is assisting the FAAN in fixing critical airport infrastructure in Nigeria. That is not enough for an industry that is very crucial to the nation’s economy.

Foreign airlines operating in and out of Nigeria are doing very well while the participation of Nigerian carriers is still negligible due to constraints brought about by bad policies of our government.

Unfortunately, the dwindling value of the Naira against other foreign currencies has worsened the situation for Nigerian airlines and it is even more disturbing that the nation has no credit agency exclusively put in place to fund aviation like other sectors of the economy. Furthermore, the interest rates charged by banks and financial institutions on loans are too high for any airline to borrow and operate profitably.

Some of the sore points in the aviation industry include the controversy over the N19.5 billion intervention fund, unfriendly policies, insensitivity in designating local operators on regional and international routes, the high attrition rate of aviation professionals as well as the invasion of lows on the runway of airports amongst others.

While celebrating Nigeria at 50 last October, the management of IRS Airlines said the aviation sector has fared well in the past 10 years but that more needed to be done to sustain the Category One status which only goes to show that the effort of the current administration has moved towards improving security and safety in the aviation sector. The certification of the category one also shows that there is confidence in the industry while passenger traffic has increased, showing that people are being encouraged to fly the various airlines in the country.

Although security at the 21 airports across the nation and a few other facilities have been strengthened in the past ten years to forestall further breaches, government should take second look at the aviation sector with a view to financing and working cooperatively to develop a global standardised approach as there is no doubt that the aviation sector still face a threat of how to sustain the system in the long-term.

For the air transport industry in this country to reach its projected growth potential, aviation authorities must work towards an integrated trans Atlantic system that will achieve standards. The EU, Canada and the US are among the highest in the aviation business in the world so Nigeria must step up her cooperation with these countries to have a clear way forward in the aviation industry.

Last year, FAAN introduced a new credit policy that would enable it to recover the over N20 billion debts owed it by airlines and concessionaires.

Though the policy appears laudable, the implementation has run into a hitch.

The new Director of Finance and Accounts of FAAN, Dr. Azuka Onyia, on her assumption of office, threatened to use every available means to recover FAAN’s debts, but the success of her action remains a matter of debate, how she intends to go about it in an industry where pressure from  Abuja could upturn the action.

Sometime ago, last year to be precise, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria passed a vote of no confidence on the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Fidelia Njeze for her inability to carry the industry forward, alleging that the Minister had derailed in repositioning the critical sector.

The association said the minister registered little or no achievements since her coming to office. They cited a case where ATSSAN wanted to adopt a measure to recover debts owned the various parastatals by domestic airlines but when Arik Airline ran to the minister on grounding its aircraft, the minister allegedly gave the impression that they have to take permission from her before they started grounding airlines and the unions were not happy about that. It takes a person with the political will to oversee the management of the aviation sector because the various parastatals including the airports require funds to perform their statutory duties.

Considering  the much complaints by FAAN over lack of funds, one is forced to call for a probe into the activities of the authority as there was an alleged misappropriation of funds in recent time. The Federal Government should provide funds for capital projects that stakeholders can monitor to ensure prudence and transparency.

Nigeria can not afford to lose the hardearned category one because of some unscrupulous elements, who for their personal interests defraud the aviation industry instead of using the resources or revenue coming out from the airports to provide infrastructure. There is seeming  lack of inconsistency in the FAAN management.

This is why the Federal Government must beam its light on the sector with a view to bringing it out of the doldrums.

Government should take urgent steps to address issues of infrastructure decay, the replacement of decaying infrastructure and provision of funds so that the industry can grow. The areas Nigeria needs cooperation or partnership with other giant airlines or countries include safety, security, technology, airport infrastructure, air navigation, ground handling and training, and of course, funding of the aviation sector.

An effective air transport sector is a critical element of a nation’s competitiveness. The international Air Transport Association’s (IATA) global standards and technical expertise can contribute significantly to the development of safe, efficient and environmentally responsible aviation in Nigeria and provide the country with a strong framework to help build an even more competitive Nigerian air transport sector, with the benefits being spread across the economy. The Nigerian aviation industry can achieve a grater standard if its finances are judiciously used with the application of industry-leading management.

Nigeria’s aviation infrastructure is a mess and its needs to get better. There is need for a comprehensive review of the funding of all government agencies at the federal, state and local levels including the airports to enhance productivity and service. Our politicians and leaders must have the political will to drive the aviation industry towards greater achievements, and the time is now.

There is no hard and fast rulers about this because there is a general attitude of mind of politicians about the relationship of travel or air transport expenditure to the total cost of maintaining the airports.

Shedie Okpara